Michael McNamara

I’m a retired brain surgeon but more importantly a father who lost his 18-year-old son in a tragic car accident. When the worlds of science and religious belief collide, an inner conflict is set off between our brain and our soul. I think the brain is different than our soul. When my son died, I couldn’t make sense of the world. How could a good person like my son die when so many other bad people are allowed to live. And it’s not that I wish anyone harm. I do not. I just couldn’t understand why my son died at such an early age and he had done nothing terribly bad in his life. I spent a good part of my career saving people’s lives and yet no one could save my sons. It’s been a long hard road of soul searching and processing grief but here’s what I have come up with. Beyond our understanding of science or religion, I believe everything happens for a reason. We may never know the answer why something happens but my solace is that there is a greater purpose to everything we experience. I truly believe that and it has helped me find peace in my life. Science and religion are often at odds. One is not more legitimate than the other. What is legitimate is how you react to adversity in your life and what you do with it. I chose purpose for myself and for others. That is the way I have been able to continue to be a neuroscience-based physician and a faith-based husband and father. I accept other people’s viewpoints. But in the end, I need to trust who I am as a person and what I believe to be true. Everyone’s truth will be different. Believe in your own truth and healing will come.